"Meditation Upon God's LOVE Warms Us, Enlightens Us, Helps Us to 'Pass it On'"

Ps. 103:13, NIRV

     How important it is to know--deeply know--the love of God for us! 

C. H. Spurgeon says, “[N]o gem or pearl can ever equal in value a

sense of the Lord’s love.  This is such a brilliant as angels wear. 

King’s regalia are a beggarly collection of worthless pebbles when

compared with the tender mercies” of God.[1]  

     Furthermore, everything upon the spiritual journey is based upon this foundation.  Knowing God’s love warms and enlightens our soul through and through, it empowers us to use our gifts in love and service, and it helps us walk through the difficult valleys of life--knowing we are supported by a loving God.  As said previously, knowing how dearly we are loved by God is Course 101 in the spiritual life.[2]  But this is a Course we never leave behind, since everything else upon the spiritual way depends upon being grounded in God’s love.  Without this as our balance point, other aspects of the spiritual life often seem a bit like eating sour grapes.  “We love because he first loved us”; 1 Jn. 4:19, NIV.  And as St. Augustine says (perhaps recalling this verse), “nothing incites another more to love you than that you love him first...”[3]  And it is the same when we recognize how magnificently God loves us first.

     But how does one become a person who knows God’s love--who rests deeply in this love?   First of all, we learn something that Martin Luther went through many struggles to learn--something that in the end is so elemental and simple (even a child can know it!)  Divine love is based entirely upon God’s “tender mercies” and Grace.[4]  We don’t have to struggle as Luther did.[5]   We don’t have to (indeed can’t) earn it (see Eph. 2:8-9).  Amazingly, Grace, mercy, and love are there to receive--gifts to receive.  Our part is to open ourselves to them!  But Luther knows we have internal blocks, so Luther also says, “Ask God to work faith in you ...”[6]  Since faith itself is grounded upon living in

God’s love, perhaps we could just as well say: Ask God to work the deep knowledge of God’s love in you!   Also: Ask and it shall be given, seek and you will find (Lk. 11:9-13).

     Indeed, we must do our small part!  Philip Henry writes,

“A garment that is double dyed, dipped again and again, will retain

the colour a great while; so a truth which is the subject of

meditation.”[7]  Thus, Henry would suggest, it seems, that we meditate

upon the love of God--dip and dye ourselves in it--so that we might

know it more deeply.  And the Holy Spirit will surely come to respond

to our search and reflections.

     In this regard we return to a meditation from a recent post that stresses multiple images of God’s love: images that one might choose to meditate upon--to dip and dye oneself in:

We are invited IN-- / into "divine embrace," / into divine

romance, / invited to come Home-- / home to be the “beloved” ...

in the family of God, / the family of Triune Love.[8]

We are invited IN-- / into the care of the Shepherd of Love, / into the Great Love Story / of the Abba, / the Mother-who-never-forgets, / the Bridegroom who retrieves the bride.[9]

Acknowledged or not, / we are the “beloved” / and we are invited IN . . .  

     (Here we meditate upon themes in Lk. 15:20; Ps. 23, 127:2; Rom. 8:15, Isa. 49:15 and other biblical images discussed in previous posts.[10])  

     Notice that the various images above show that the divine romance does not have to be framed in typically romantic imagery--although it can be!  It can also be framed in the Shepherd of Love imagery, in loving parent/child imagery, or in the “beloved” imagery, which may include romantic symbolism or may be a reference to the “beloved” people of God.[11]

     Henri Nouwen paraphrases what God says to us: “You belong to me, I am your father, your mother, your brother, your sister, your lover, and your spouse . . . wherever you are I will be.  Nothing will ever separate us.”[12]  (Note: Jn. 5:18; Isa. 49:15-16; Heb. 2:11; Rom 8:38-39; Hos. 2:19-20; Mt. 25:6; Rev. 19:7 are some verses to which Nouwen makes reference.  These are also fine verses for meditation.)

     Similarly, Julian of Norwich says Jesus searches for us in love as a brother, lover, keeper, mother, nurse, and Everlasting Friend.[13]  We can contemplate all such images.

     We have also discussed other images that are not typically romantic yet signify deep love, intimacy, and closeness: discussions of the Companionship, Friendship, and Guardianship of God and Christ[14]--as in his promises that he will never leave us and will never leave us orphans (Mt. 28:20; Jn. 14:18).  

     In other imagery that hints somewhat at the  romantic (but doesn’t dwell upon it) we have discussed the Love Letters of God that make up the scripture and the living Love Letter: the Word, Christ, who comes intimately in the Incarnation.[15]

     We have also discussed God’s TLC in scripture: especially in the forms of God’s “tender mercies,” “lovingkindness,” and care, as in Psalm 25.[16]  And we have discussed Jesus living out such Tender Loving Care in his encounters with wounded, grieving persons.[17]  

     Why are we stressing these aspects?  First, because this is, indeed, Course 101 in Christian growth. But also because, as Eric Jonas Swensson says, too often Martin Luther’s followers “turned an experiential theology [of heart, soul, and mind] into an academic science.”[18]  They emphasized “conceptual-doctrinal”[19] aspects to the neglect of Luther’s theology of the heart.[20]  Other groups did this as well, and we often continue this pattern today! (Note: we mentions Luther's followers because they represent an important influence in our own youth.) 

Although it is important to have one’s head in the right place, our

lives are not often touched deeply until the heart is in the right place:

and that place is knowing and responding to the great love of God. 

Proverbs 4:23 tells us, “Above all else, guard your heart, for

everything you do flows from it”; and Psalm 73:26 says, “[B]ut God

is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (NIV). This is

our foundation!

     Furthermore, as St. Teresa of Avila says, love has “spiritual … children”--which “are always good works.”[21]  Another way to say this is that love is spiritually fruitful.  We PASS IT ON in the world.[22]  But how can we pass on that which has not deeply penetrated our souls?  And so we meditate upon the deep, faithful love of God for us!

     Please note that we have no wish to substitute the imagery we speak of in recent posts for other long standing, helpful imagery regarding the spiritual journey.  We only wish for balance and also wish to retrieve classical imagery that has always been part of our heritage but perhaps has too often been neglected by the common rationalistic inclination[23] toward making even religion and faith into an “academic science.”  (Note: founding psychologist/psychiatrist Carl Jung was very concerned about lack of balance in the prevailing “rationalistic materialism” of modern Western culture.[24])

     It is also helpful to remember that in order to draw more intimately close to God (to pray), as the saintly poet/beguine Hadewijch of Antwerp says, “[W]e must detach ourselves / From the agitation of Reasons …”[25]  When we lead with “the agitation 

of reasons” the human ego is in control, and  God may or may not be able to get through.  But when we honestly and humbly search with the heart, God’s love and God’s Spirit can finally enter in. 

“May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be

pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer” (Ps. 19:14, 

NIV). 

     (We pause to insert that our whole culture seems to be caught up in the “agitation of reasons” these days.  We have become so argumentative, while we often ignore the clear message of the heart.  And this spills over into many areas of life, including our relationship with God.  Too often we talk about God and whose side we think God is on, rather than humbling talking to and with God [and others] from the deep heart and soul [note 1 Sam. 16:7].)

* * *

We close with words that we can dip and dye heart, soul, and mind in:

A possible opening to a Quiet Time of meditation:

      (I often use these words to open a special Quiet Time or Time-out

with God--something the old saints consistently recommend.  James Finley

calls such time--when we “steal away”--a rendezvous with God. In the

back of my mind these words also recall Psalm 23 and Charles Wesley’s

great hymn, “Jesus, Lover of my Soul.”)

* * *

                                 

Julian of Norwich & a collage of words from her spiritual

classic[26]--these phrases might be used as a prelude to prayer

or meditation:

“[W]e were treasured in God and hid,

known and loved from without beginning.”

God “is All-Goodness and loveth me [and you]

full tenderly.”

“For ere that He made us He loved us ...”

Therefore: "Betwixt God and ourselves there is no between."

So “Glad and merry and sweet

is the blissful lovely Cheer of our Lord to our souls.”

And even “in [our] falling and in rising

we are ever preciously kept . . .”

“For our soul is so

specially

loved ...”!

📖 “Revelations of Divine Love”

by Lady Julian of Norwich

"I meditate on all your deeds; I contemplate your handiwork. I

stretch out my hands to you . . . thirsting for you"; Ps. 143: 5-6, CEB.

Note the "thirsting [longing] for you" above. We don't just meditate

when it feels good or we feel good. We especially need such meditation

upon God in [or hidden in] our lives when we do not feel good.

James Finley offers advice in this regard: “[S]o I might still be

confused . . . but I say to God, yes, I’m aware of my … [being]

confused.  But I [also] say to God, but You're never confused about

who I am as your beloved.  And I can learn to live in the clarity

of how God sees me as the beloved ...").[27] (Also see the "beloved"

of Ps. 127:2, NRSV, NRSVCE for one example of this endearing

term. See Note 11 for further examples.)

* * *

An opening to prayer/meditation:

                                                                    

(With meditation upon Ps. 23 and Ps. 25; the latter speaks of

God’s Tender Loving Care[28] for all who will “cleave” to

God. Note that we do our part: in the words of Julian of Norwich,

to “cleave”[29] [hold tight] to the Shepherd of Love.  We dip

and dye ourselves in such imagery. See the Shepherd of Love discussed in a previous post.[30])

* * *

A meditation with delightful imagery from Old Saints:

     In reference to ancient words like those found in

Psalm 119:103, 19:10, 81:16 and Proverbs 16:24,

St. Francis de Sales “urges his reader to be a

‘mystical bee,’ that is, to ponder God’s holy

mysteries ‘in order to extract from them the honey

of divine love’.”[31]   (Also see Eph. 3:21; Isa. 45:17; KJV.) 

      “Taste and see that the Lord is sweet” (translation of Ps. 34:8

and Martin Luther’s translation of this psalm).[32]   

"Gracious ['kind'] words are like honeycomb, sweet to the

soul and healing to the bones"; Prov. 16:24, NIV [NIRV]. So

meditated upon God's "gracious ['kind'] words" and PASS

IT (THEM) ON!

* * *

“Who Cannot Meditate ... ?”  

     (“[Y]ou thrill to God’s Word, you chew [meditate] on

Scripture day and night.  You're a tree replanted in Eden,

bearing fresh fruit every month, Never dropping a leaf,

always in blossom”; Ps. 1:2-3, MSG paraphrase. Also

see Jn. 1.)

* * *

Tender HEART (Meditating with the Shepherd of Love)[33]

     (With meditation upon Ps. 23; Jn. 10:11; Lk. 15:1-7; Isa. 40:9-11. 

Note: the “shepherd’s fire” is a bit of poetic license, although logical

enough.)

"[T]he God of heaven ... his loving kindness endures forever";

Ps. 136:25, WEB.

* * *

Sea of LOVE--a meditation:

  (With reflection upon Ps. 136:1-9, EXB.) [34] 

   "We have known and have believed the love that God has for us.

God is love, and those that remain in love remain in God and God

remains in them"; 1 Jn. 4:16, CEB.

"God remembered us when we were down, His love

never quits. . . . Takes care of everyone in time of need.

His love never quits. Thank God, who did it all! His

love never quits!"; Ps. 136:23, MSG paraphrase.

* * *

Meditation with the "Lover of my soul":

     (With reflection upon the "night watches" of Ps. 63:6, NJB, KJV, NASB.

Also see Ps. 23:1, 127:2; Isa. 9:6, NRSV; Ps. 108:6, KJV; Jn. 14:16, 15:15, CEB; 

and the "silent sound" of 1 Kgs. 19:12, NABRE. And note Charles Wesley's great

hymn “Jesus, Lover of My Soul.”  Meditate and PASS IT [LOVE] ON!)

"My eyes anticipate the night watches, So that I may

meditate on Your word"; Ps. 119:1148, NASB.

(And lastly, another kind of meditation.)

“TOO SHY (a forest meditation)”     

What is this tree . . . so glorious?--

Gold rays on every curve!

Bright beams break through the distant pines . . .  

A hush--no modern sound is heard. 

An aura on the meadow . . .

A radiance in the sky.

And I, ecstatic pilgrim, 

In PRAISES far too SHY!                                                                                                                                   

  “O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you

have made them all …" ; Ps. 104:24, NRSV, NRSVCE.

(Note: shape form meditations above are meant to evoke

the childlike heart (Mt. 18:3), which in turn can serve as an

entry to a more meditative heart.  Heart shapes refer to the 

"great divine romance of Heaven" for us; see our 7/3/15 post.)

(See additional blog posts after the “Notes”—Newer/Older Posts.)

……………………..

Notes:

1. C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1885),

Vol. II, p. 177 (commentary on Ps. 36:7), emphasis added.

2. See Course 101 discussed in “Sacred Tenderness—Lost in Translation?”;
http://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2015/02/.

3. Quoted by Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, II II, Q. 27, Art. 1,

Obj. 3 (from De Catech. Rud. iv).

4.“See Martin Luther’s Neglected Tenderness”;

https://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2015/03/martin-luthers-neglected-tenderness.html

5. Ibid.

6. Martin Luther, “An Introduction to St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans,” Luther’s

German Bible of 1522, trans. Robert E. Smith from Dr. Martin Luther’s

Vermischte Deutche Schriften, Johann K. Irmischer, ed. (Erlanger: Heyder and

Zimmer, 1854), 63: 124-125.

7. Quoted in Thomas McCormick and Sharon Fish, Meditation: A Practical Guide

to a Spiritual Discipline (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1983), p. 115.

8. See discussion of Triune Love, a frequent theme in Celtic Christianity in

“Hearing God’s Heartbeat”;

http://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2015_07_01_archive.html

Also see discussion of us as the "beloved"; "The Tender 'Love Song' of God";

https://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-tender-love-song-of-god.html

9. See “The ‘Divine Romance,’ the ‘Bride Price,’ and the Cross”;
http://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2018/02/.

10. For mother-love as a metaphor for God’s love in Isaiah, see Note 2 above.  

(For other imagery, see Notes 9, 11, 28 here.) For the original meditation

beginning with "We are invited IN ..." see Note 9 above.

11. See discussion of the “beloved” in “The Tender ‘Love Song’ of God”;
http://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2017/02/. (Also see Notes 12, 28 below.)

12. Henri J. M. Nouwen, Life of the Beloved (New York: Crossroad, 1992),

pp. 36-37.

13. Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, ed. Grace Warrack

(London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1901, 1949), pp. 14, 123, 145, 148-149,

155, 186-187.

14. See “Traveling Companion—A Tender Image”; http://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2015/04/traveling-companion-tender-image_23.html;
and “TENDER LOVE Will NOT Leave us Orphans”;

http://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2017/05/tender-love-will-not-leave-us-orphans.html

15. See “God’s Greatest ‘Love Letter’ to Us: The Tender Romance of Christmas”;
http://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2017/12/.

16. See our summation of God's TLC: “God’s ‘Extra-ordinary’ LOVE WORD: ‘Lovingkindness’ (‘Chesed’) & TLC”; https://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2019/. (Also see Note 28 below.)

17. See “Sacred Tenderness from the Cross”;
http://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2015/03/.

18. Eric Jonas Swensson, “Luther’s Mystical Theology: The Believer’s

Participation in the Life of God”; www.pubtheo.com/page.asp?pid=1436.

19. Bengt R. Hoffman, Luther and the Mystics (Minneapolis: Augsburg,

1976), p. 19.

20. Bengt R. Hoffman, Theology of the Heart, ed. Pearl Willemssen

Hoffman (Minneapolis: Kirk House, 2003) [an updated version of the above,

which we cannot give up because of personal reflections in the margins].  

Also see “Martin Luther, the Reformation & God’s Tender Romance

(Inclusion or Neglect?)”;

http://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2017/10/.

21. Quoted in Evelyn Underhill, Mysticism (New York: Meridian Books,

1955), p. 429.

22. “PASS IT ON” (God’s LOVE): Hymn by Kurt Kaiser (1969).

23. For further thoughts on this see: “Sacred Tenderness and the

Western Mind”;
http://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2015/09/.

24. The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol. 9(2), para. 282; Vol. 13,

para. 7; Vol. 16, para. 396. Also see C. G. Jung Letters, ed. Gerhard

Adler with Aniela Jaffé, trans. R. F. C. Hull (Princeton, NJ:

Princeton University, 1953, 1973), Vol. 2, pp. 600-603 (10/19/1960).

Note that in one form or another Jung's concern about the

one-sidedness and “rationalistic materialism” of modern Western

culture pervades his writing.  Also see John A. Sanford, Mystical

Christianity: A Psychological Commentary of the Gospel of John

(New York: Crossroad, 1994), p. 2 (and throughout). (Also see

Note 23 above.)

25. Quoted in Emilie Zum Brunn and Georgette Epiney-Burgard,

Women Mystics in Medieval Europe, trans. Sheila Hughes

(St. Paul: Paragon House, 1989), p. 134.

26. Lines 1-2: Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, ed. Warrack,

p. 129.  Lines 3-4: Ibid., p. 188.  Line 5: Ibid., p. 128.  Line 6: This very

old--beloved--source is not entirely certain: perhaps another translation

of “there may nor shall be right nought atwix God and man’s Soul”;

Ibid., p. 129.  Lines 7-8: Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love,

ed. Dom Roger Hudleston, O.S.B. (Westminster, Maryland: The

Newman Press, 1927, 1952), p. 144.  Lines 9-10: Julian of Norwich,

Revelations of Divine Love, ed. Warrack, p. 198.  Lines 11-12:

Ibid., p. 14, italics added.

27. James Finley with Kristen Oates, “Turning to The Mystics,”

“T.S. Eliot: Listener Questions (Part One)”; Dec. 16, 2024,

(emphasis & capitals added);

https://cac.org/podcasts/t-s-eliot-listener-questions-part-one/; https://cac.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/TTTM_Transcript_1013_TSE_ListenerQuestions.pdf

(For further thoughts on being the "beloved," while still feeling

confused about that see two other posts: https://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-tender-love-song-of-god.html

and https://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-fickle-weather-of-human-soul-gods.html )

28. See Tender Loving Care (TLC) in Ps. 25: i.e., “tender mercies,”

“lovingkindness,” and care throughout [KJV, ASV, AMPC].  (Also see

Note 16 above.)

29. Julian of Norwich sees “cleaving” [clinging] to God as the

answer to so many of our problems: Revelations of Divine Love,

ed. Warrack, pp. 12, 14, 69, 125, 197, 199 (Ch. 6, 34, 52, 82, 83).  

30. See “The ‘Shepherd of Love’--And Enduring Image of God's Tender Care”;

http://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2018/01/

31. Harvey Egan, S.J., An Anthology of Christian Mysticism

(Collegeville, MN: Pueblo, Liturgical Press, 1991), p. 466 (quoting

Francis de Sales’s Treatise on the Love of God); capitalization added.

32. Translation of Ps. 34:8 and Martin Luther’s translation of this

verse in “The Magnificat,” ed. Thomas S. Kepler, An Anthology of

Devotional Literature (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1847), p. 262.  

33. See Note 30.

34. Meditations, prayer/poetry/proverbs by Lorraine B. Eshleman.